Exclusive-UK's Raab: Some countries are using vaccines as a geopolitcal
tool
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[June 11, 2021]
By William James
CARBIS BAY, England (Reuters) -British
foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Friday there was no doubt some
countries were using vaccines as a diplomatic tool to secure influence
but Britain did not support so-called vaccine diplomacy.
Raab was speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a G7 summit in
Cornwall, southwestern England, that was likely to be dominated by the
West's attempts to reassert its influence as the world looks to rebuild
from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Western diplomats fear Russia and China are using their vaccines to gain
influence across the world, especially in poorer countries that do not
have their own production or the means to buy shots on the international
market.
Asked whether he was concerned that China and Russia could use vaccines
in exchange for influence, Raab said: "There's no doubt there's some of
this is going about, and we don't support vaccine diplomacy, let alone
blackmail.
"We think that we've got a moral duty, but also a strong vested interest
in getting the world vaccinated," he said.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson expects the G7 to agree to donate 1
billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to poorer countries during its summit,
and help inoculate the world by the end of next year.
Raab said Britain's contribution would come with no strings attached,
with at least 80% being distributed by the COVAX international vaccine
initiative. The rest would be provided to "strategic close countries
where we have a particular relationship, and no, we don't insist on
conditionality", he added.
'TEAM EFFORT'
The United States has promised to donate 500 million doses - which U.S.
President Biden stressed would come with no strings attached.
"We would only think it was responsible to be promoting vaccines that
the WHO has sanctioned as safe to distribute," Raab said.
"But it's a team effort. And we want the countries like China and Russia
to come together to tackle the problems of pandemic, but also climate
change, and also to respect the basic principles of international law."
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A woman holds a small bottle labelled with a "Coronavirus COVID-19
Vaccine" sticker and a medical syringe in this illustration taken
October 30, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo
China currently has two WHO-approved COVID-19
vaccines, while a Russian-developed shot is waiting approval. Russia
said last week it expected that approval in the next couple of
months.
Raab also said he would be speaking to Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov shortly, without giving a specific date. He declined
to comment on issues he would raise at that meeting.
Nevertheless Raab criticised Russia as a leading protagonist of
cyber attacks, calling for the G7 to take a united stand against all
such incidents, whether conducted by state or non-state actors.
"These activities are contrary to international law, many of them,
and they're very damaging, some of them are done for pure theft, or
for profit, others are done just to create havoc," he said.
"We ought to be clear as an international community that cyber
attacks on hospitals, on schools, on critical national
infrastructure - that's wrong. That's unjustifiable, it's beyond the
pale."
Asked about the recent forced landing of a civilian aircraft in
Belarus, Raab said the country was slipping "into pariah status".
"We need Belarus to step up and live up to the basic, fundamental,
cardinal rules of international law," he said.
(Reporting by William James; editing by Michael Holden, Guy
Faulconbridge and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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